Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Melan" data-source="post: 3279578" data-attributes="member: 1713">After years of lagging sales, TSR releases 3rd edition AD&D in a last desperate attempt to stay afloat. With very little goodwill from existing consumers, and failing to grab the imagination of young blood, the game is unsuccessful, and not even the relative success of relaunched Greyhawk is able to save it. After a lengthy agoiny during which the old company is strip-mined of its still valuable assets, it goes under, leaving its IP to multiple media companies. The novels line, which controls the crown jewel (Forgotten Realms) and a few steady sellers (Dragonlance et al), remains successful after having shed its RPG origins and establishing itself as just another part of fantasy generica. Under good management, they remain the main driving force of fantasy mass literature for years. In 2002, a successful deal opens the way for D&D paraphernalia, which, riding on a wave of nostalgia, become a smash hit among new people, although they re synonymous with the novels, and not games.The rights to make computer games end up in the hands of Bioware, who also controls access to the actual game system. Unable to strike a good deal for the FR content, Bioware eventually finds that computer gamers don't find D&D ideas sacrosanct, and starts to introduce more and more changes into the underlying rules apparatus, Vancian magic being the first casualty. By 2003, D&D is just a brand name of generic fantasy CRPGs and a successful second tier MMORPG.The scraps are picked up by a number of small publishers. Enthusiastic and delusional, their dreams are brutally crushed as these relaunches prove to be dismal failures. Planescape and others enter into the ranks of cult favourites, lovingly remembered by the very few.With the fall of D&D, gaming takes a big hit and - with no MtG and other hits - several hobby stores go under. Palladium becomes the market leader with the remarketed Palladium Fantasy RPG, and White Wolf manages to grow by capturing a few dissatisfied D&D gamers. The Scarred Lands RPG is targeted at the people who never liked "kiddified" D&D, and becomes a grognard favourite almost instantly. In 2007, the gaming hobby is smaller, older, although not beholden to corporate interests.Hobby culture is both similar and different. The people who started with 1st edition AD&D or the basic editions mostly keep to themselves, seeing TSR's fall as a proof of having been right all along. A handful become vocal Scarred Lands fans, some rediscover New Palladium, but most stay with the games they've always loved. The biggest number of "grognards" is made up of disenfranchised 2nd edition fans, who feel betrayed by both old TSR and its successors. A large site called Olden Lore springs up, and after a number of highly vitriolic flamewars, consolidates itself as the main voice of AD&D gaming. On these boards, discussions mainly concern themselves with analysing, appreciating and debating over the corpus left behind by TSR. IC (In Canon) and OOC (Out of Canon) threads represent the bulk of discussion, but there is a strong feeling of separation between the two. Many people who take an active part in the discussions are non-gamers, just people into novels, character stories (a form of fan fiction) and cooperative worldbuilding. In 2007, cooperative worldbuilding is the main online face of what was once gaming. Consistency and thoroughness are the marks of the professional, while people gaming willy-nilly, while tolerated, are not really welcome.***God, that was much more depressing than I intended. Hold me. :\</blockquote>

Verification